Turckheim Christmas Market on Place Turenne
While Colmar's Christmas market draws hundreds of thousands of visitors, Turckheim's own market on Place Turenne — held across four weekends in Advent — offers the same half-timbered, fairy-lit magic at a fraction of the scale and none of the crush. Local producers, craftspeople and the town's own wine cooperative all set up stalls under the medieval gate, and the mulled wine here is spiced with l
What to Expect
Around 30 to 40 stalls fill the square and the lower Grand'Rue, selling hand-thrown pottery, beeswax candles, smoked meats from Vosges farms, and the region's famous bredele Christmas biscuits in a dozen varieties. The scale means stallholders actually have time to talk — you will learn more about Alsatian food traditions in one conversation here than from any museum.
The Turckheim wine cooperative (Cave de Turckheim) opens its cellar doors during market weekends for extended tastings of their Brand Grand Cru wines, which are otherwise only available to walk-in visitors during normal shop hours.
Timing & Atmosphere
The market runs on Saturday afternoons and Sunday afternoons across the four Advent weekends, typically from late November through to December 23. Weekday evenings are quieter still — the permanent Christmas lighting stays up all month and the empty cobbled streets with lit garlands are arguably more atmospheric than the market itself.
The night watchman continues his rounds throughout December, and on market weekends he departs at 6 pm rather than 10 pm to coincide with the crowds — an unusual and very photogenic spectacle against the Christmas lights.
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